The problem is that the vast majority of payment cards being issued nowadays are either Visa or MasterCards (both physical and virtual). This makes it very difficult to avoid US companies when it comes to cashless payments. My current bank gives me a Visa Debit Card for free, but would charge me fees for a Girocard. I avoid PayPal as much as I can.
this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2026
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I actually created a Klarna accout to take a step away from Paypal. Everything was fine, until I wanted to do my first transaction. They actually wanted me to put in my bank password in their login form, so that they could "verify my identity". WTF. There was no other option. Immediately logged out and won't turn back - except for deleting my account.
Italy also has Satispay which is fairly popular around here. I use it for most of my in shop purchases.
I might add that the German giropay/girocard nowadays mostly uses visa/MC anyway, so there's no real progress.
And there are only two banks (chains) that even offer wero. I just made an account with one for wero. And so far have not found a way to use it ๐
MultiBanco / MBway works great in Portugal ๐ต๐น
And it's compatible with the spainsh Bizum and the Italian Bancomat. All you need is a phone number.
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Indeed Wero being rolled out in EU (for now only France, Belgium, Germany), hopefully the reference soon all over Europe
Sadly, my primary bank (DKB) has no plans to support it at the moment.
Which I find really strange, since it's mostly just an alias (phone number or email) layer on top of IBAN/SEPA.
where can i subscribe to get a notification when Italy joins?
Is stuff like credit cards and Apple Pay really that popular in Europe? I know some people use it, but not sure how popular it actually is.
I've been using Paypal more often before real-time transfer recently became really cheap due to new EU rules. But still, some shops make it a pain to use SEPA or don't offer it at all (especially international shops).
Yeah I was mostly talking about european shops. Shops outside of Europe that don't have SEPA often sadly can't offer it. Sometimes there is no way to avoid but as long as you check and reduce usage less money will flow to them. I used to always use my Visa debit card as I didn't like change and stuff but now I look for alternatives
I am from Germany and basically anyone I know pays with Apple and Google Pay on a daily basis. We do have the German "Girocard", which is similar to a Mastercard/Visa Debit, but the biggest bank in Germany also supports Apple Pay with that card.
Interesting, I am also from Germany and no one I know uses those (that I know of).
In germany, most banks that offer free banking (ING, Comdirect, DKB etc.) have switched from girocard to VISA/MC Debit cards. If you want an actual girocard, you'll need to pay a monthly fee, either "directly" for the card (In the case of ING, Comdirect etc.), or by having a paid account in the first place (like Sparkasse, Raiffeisenbank, Commerzbank etc.)
Good to know, I was talking about Google Pay and Apple Pay, though.
Ah, in that case I only know a handful of people personally that use Apple pay, but I do see some people occasionally pay by tapping their phone at the checkout
Everyone that I know pays with their phone. So yeah, Apple Pay and Google Pay are big in some parts of Europe at least.
I pay with my phone using my bank's app. No need for Apple or Google stuff whatsoever.
Not all banks have this. And I think this is only possible on Android? From what I know Apple does not allow to replace Apple Pay.
Yes, I cannot find a corresponding IOS-App for my bank. VR Bank offers it, though: https://apps.apple.com/de/app/vr-banking-einfach-sicher/id1505855171
I have iPhone, and I use other payment apps. Swish (native Swedish direct payment, mostly p2p, but also widely used by small businesses) and Klarna.
Norway has Vipps. Still uses VISA/MC for some transactions.
I wish we had JCB instead of Visa or Mastercard
One option is to use crypto wherever possible.
Otherwise the good news is that Blik seems to be gearing for EU wide expansion
Many cryptos have many other issues. Is there one which you would recommend?
For a beginner who just wants to pay for stuff? Litecoin. It's not the best from scalability and tech standpoint, but it's the most foolproof, cheap to use and user friendly right now.